I had a game of
Terrorscape recently, which hadn't been on my radar before. It is a boardgame leaning heavily into horror movie tropes. Up to three players are characters trapped in a mansion. Behind a screen, the other player is the killer, who doesn't know where the survivors are. The killer has to use logic and deduction to find, fix and finish their opponents- killing one survivor to win the game. The survivors can run, hide, and sometimes defend themselves. but cannot hurt the killer. They have to find five keys or fix the radio and wait for the police- all these actions make noise which attracts the killer, who gets stronger as the game progresses.
Our game was painted by my friend Lims, who took the killer's role. The Butcher has abilities to progressively lock down parts of the mansion. We found a few helpful items, not to mention a secret passage to the telephone room, and were saved by a cameo from
Commissioner Gordon- not a moment too soon, as my character was about to be murderised!
I was concerned that the tension in a horror film comes from not knowing where the killer is, whereas in this game the killer's position is known. It was still tense, however, and I understand there are different types of villains that can be picked, as well as different locales.
Recommended!